Horus Heresy · atlas

Campaign · The Solar System · Terra · 013.M31 — 014.M31

The Solar War and the Siege of Terra

From the outer spheres of Sol to the Golden Throne: the fall of Pluto and Luna, the plague, the spaceports, Saturnine, Perturabo’s departure, the Eternity Gate, the boarding of the Vengeful Spirit, the deaths of Sanguinius and Horus, the confinement of the Emperor.

Outcome A Pyrrhic loyalist victory. Horus is dead, the Imperium is “saved”, the Emperor is interned on the Throne for ten thousand years.

Commanders

Loyalists

Commanders

Traitors

Commanders

Theatre
The Solar System · Terra
Period
013.M31 — 014.M31
Legions
Systems

Analysis

This is not one campaign in the staff sense but the only theatre that the canon allows to be read as a continuous operation. Layer 1 — the Solar War: Dorn’s defensive spheres are stripped away one after another. Layer 2 — the surface: the XIV’s plague, mortal billions. Layer 3 — Perturabo’s engineering assault: when the Lord of Iron leaves, the traitors lose the only one who knew how to break the Palace. Layer 4 — the Khan’s counterstroke (the Lion’s Gate, Mortarion brought down). Layer 5 — the Eternity Gate and Anabasis. The key dispute of the canon is the metaphysics of the final duel and the role of Ollanius (the Perpetual retcon vs. the myth of the guardsman); the atlas holds to the current Persson and marks the dispute. Guilliman’s lateness is not the XIII’s cowardice but the price of the Ruinstorm. The loyalist victory is Pyrrhic to its foundations: the Father on the Throne, the Angel dead, the Warmaster dead, the Imperium saved as a corpse that still walks.

Order of battle

Defence: the VII (the core of the walls), the IX (the Eternity Gate), the V (manoeuvre and ports), the Custodians and the Sisters, the Solar Auxilia and the billions of Terra. Assault: the XVI, the IV (until its departure), the XIV (plague), the XII, III, XV, parts of the XVII without Lorgar, the daemons of the Four. The VIII and I are absent as Legions. The XIII, VI and the main body of the I are outside the decisive hours.

Turning points

  1. 013.M31 The Solar War — The Solar War

    The outer spheres are stripped away. The Siege becomes logistically possible.

  2. 014.M31 The Fall of the Lion’s Gate — Fall of the Lion’s Gate Spaceport

    The port is lost. The Palace begins to starve of people and equipment.

  3. 014.M31 Saturnine — Battle of the Saturnine Gate

    Dorn’s trap destroys the elite of the XVI and does not save the war.

  4. 014.M31 Perturabo Leaves — Perturabo Abandons the Siege

    The traitors’ siege mind is switched off. After this — gods and slaughter.

  5. 014.M31 The Duel on the Spirit — Death of Sanguinius · the Emperor against Horus

    Sanguinius dies, Horus dies, the Emperor is mortally wounded.

  6. 014.M31 The Golden Throne — Emperor Interred on the Golden Throne

    Malcador burns up. The Emperor is entombed alive. The Heresy as a war for a living Father is over.

Events of the campaign

  1. 013.M31 The Solar War Traitor victory

    The traitor fleet fought its way through the outer defences of Sol — a system of five concentric Spheres of Dorn.

  2. 014.M31 The Siege of Terra Pyrrhic loyalist victory

    The culmination of the Heresy: Horus’s armada descended on the Solar System and besieged the Emperor’s Palace on Terra.

  3. 014.M31 Fall of the Lion’s Gate Spaceport Traitor victory

    The Lion’s Gate Spaceport — the most powerfully defended — fell to the traitors, and the greater part of the sprawling Magnifican came into their hands.

  4. 014.M31 Battle of the Saturnine Gate Loyalist victory

    Perturabo and Abaddon spotted a crack in the Saturnine Gate. Abaddon led the Justaerin spearhead through it, while Fulgrim threw ~100,000 Emperor’s Children into a ground assault.

  5. 014.M31 Perturabo Abandons the Siege Inconclusive

    Disgusted that the war had turned into a slaughter of Legions with Chaos, and having received Horus’s order to scatter the Iron Warriors among the other armies, Perturabo abandoned the siege and led…

  6. 014.M31 Khan Retakes Lion’s Gate · Mortarion driven out Loyalist victory

    The White Scars rushed to retake the Lion’s Gate Spaceport so that Guilliman’s reinforcements could land quickly.

  7. 014.M31 Last Stand at the Eternity Gate Pyrrhic loyalist victory

    At the Eternity Gate, in an aerial duel, Sanguinius broke the spine of the Bloodthirster Ka’Bandha with the hilt of his sword.

  8. 014.M31 Death of Sanguinius · the Emperor against Horus Loyalist victory

    Horus lowered the shields of the “Vengeful Spirit”, luring the Emperor. Sanguinius reached him first — and was killed, refusing to betray the Emperor (thus the Black Rage was born).

  9. 014.M31 Emperor Interred on the Golden Throne Loyalist victory

    The maimed Emperor, together with the body of Sanguinius and the skull of Ferrus Manus, was carried into the Palace.

Significance

The finale of the civil war and the birth of the Imperium of 40k. All the previous campaigns are the logistics of this month.

How to look in the atlas
  • Do not set the slider to “014” and do not wait for a single icon — switch to Siege mode: the phases are laid out there in order.
  • In Siege mode find 14.404 (Perturabo’s departure): after it the engineering line of the assault breaks off, and from then on gods and berserkers do the fighting.

Show on the map

Open in the atlas

Sources

  1. The Solar War (J. French)
  2. Saturnine (D. Abnett)
  3. Echoes of Eternity (A. Dembski-Bowden)
  4. The End and the Death I–III (D. Abnett)
Open in the atlas

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